Combining Texts

Ideas for 'Logical Pluralism', 'The Universe as We Find It' and 'Phenomenal and Perceptual Concepts'

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4 ideas

1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 2. Wise People
18495 The best philosophers I know are the best people I know [Heil]
     Full Idea: Philosophers are not invariably the best people, but the best philosophers I know are the best people I know.
     From: John Heil (The Universe as We Find It [2012], Pref)
     A reaction: How very nicely expressed. I have often thought the same about lovers of literature, but been horribly disappointed by some of them. On the whole I have found philosophy-lovers to be slightly superior to literature-lovers!
1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
18494 Using a technical vocabulary actually prevents discussion of the presuppositions [Heil]
     Full Idea: Sharing a technical vocabulary is to share a tidy collection of assumptions. Reliance on that vocabulary serves to foreclose discussion of those assumptions.
     From: John Heil (The Universe as We Find It [2012], Pref)
     A reaction: Love it! I am endlessly frustrated by papers that launch into a discussion using a terminology that is riddled with dubious prior assumptions. And that includes common terms like 'property', as well as obscure neologisms.
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 2. Possibility of Metaphysics
18506 Questions of explanation should not be confused with metaphyics [Heil]
     Full Idea: There is an unfortunate tendency to conflate epistemological issues bearing on explanation with issues in metaphysics.
     From: John Heil (The Universe as We Find It [2012], 01.2)
     A reaction: This is where Heil and I part ways. I just don't believe in the utterly pure metaphysics which he thinks we can do. Our drive to explain moulds our vision of reality, say I.
1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 3. Metaphysical Systems
18535 Without abstraction we couldn't think systematically [Heil]
     Full Idea: A capacity for abstraction is central to our capacity to think about the universe systematically.
     From: John Heil (The Universe as We Find It [2012], 09.7)
     A reaction: This strikes me as obvious. We pick out the similarities, and then discuss them, as separate from their bearers. We explain why things have features in common. Some would just say systematic thinking needs universals, but that's less good.